Reviewing the classics: The Catcher in the Rye It was banned in America as well as other countries, it’s a favorite among serial killers and yet you can always find the average person with an underlined copy of it in their personal library. So why do people love “The Catcher in the Rye?” Simply because they can find a way to relate to it. Written by J.D. Salinger, who has become a man of mystery himself, and making its debut in 1951, “The Catcher in the Rye” has since stirred up controversy whereever it may be read. Upsetting people around the world and causing uproar for its language, crude sexual undertones, talking openly about sex, homosexuals, and rebellious nature, parents had it banned while their children refused to let it go. The book is narrated by the main character, Holden Caulfield who is a 16 year old cynical adolescent, which makes it easy for almost anyone to relate to. Sixteen and freshly expelled from his fourth boarding school, Pencey prep, for academic failure, Holden is narrating the story from inside a psychiatric ward, something he does not come out and say, but is still made clear from his becoming “sick.” The story follows Holden once he leaves Pencey and heads to New York three days earlier then his parents are expecting him. Not wanting to tell his parents that he has yet again been expelled, Holden shacks up in a hotel room for three days and looks for anything to help pass the time. As a book with no plot, simply because Salinger “couldn’t think of one,” it takes you through the mind of a troubled, sarcastic, nasty and completely unlikable teenager, who you will eventually learn to love. Completely naive, yet wise beyond his years, Holden is stuck in place where he doesn’t belong. He is stuck between his adolescence coupled with high school expectations, “you’re supposed to kill yourself if the football team loses or something” and the prospect of adulthood, “going to get an office job and make a lot of money like the rest of the phonies.” Holden has to discover who he is before he can find his place in the world and decide where he is supposed to be. The greatness of this book is not because it lacks a plot, or the rebellious free nature of a boy who is not afraid to do anything, but the things that Holden says. He is straightforward and not afraid to admit what most of us are thinking. Holden has a way of saying that life sucks, everyone is materialistic, superficial and fake, and eventually you will be disappointed by everyone even those you admire, that makes me want to be brutally honest. He is extremely attentive, making observations with his generally pissed off attitude. He finds the insincerity and ugliness of the world around him almost unbearable and through his observations and cynicism he is trying to protect himself. Although extremely intelligent and sensitive, Holden finds ways to be everything he hates through his own weaknesses. There are few people that Holden actually likes and respects in the world, the first, being his younger brother Allie, a “friendly red-headed boy” as Holden describes him, who died three years earlier from leukemia. Second is his younger sister Phoebe whom he “loves dearly,” the only one that listens and understand him, even though she is six years younger than him. Holden is just your average teenager, perhaps a little bit more, but there is a bit of him in everyone, and that is what makes this book so easy to relate to. He becomes a hero for all sorts, a character that has greatly influenced everyone who has read him. Although insane, Holden makes it okay to be a jerk. He proves that just because you do not always agree with the norm does not mean that your opinions and observations of the world are invalid. |
